A method of providing thermal conditioning for a vehicle occupant according to an example of the present disclosure includes determining a respective target temperature for each of a plurality of discrete OPZs. Each OPZ is associated with a different occupant body area. The determining is based on a difference between a first OTS indicative of a target heat flux for the occupant and a second OTS indicative of an estimated heat flux experienced by the occupant, wherein the respective target temperatures differ between the OPZs. The method includes providing thermal conditioning in each OPZ based on the target temperature for the OPZ, which includes utilizing at least one thermal effector in the OPZ. The method also includes receiving a temperature offset value for a particular one of the OPZs from the occupant, and adjusting the target temperature for the particular one of the OPZs based on the temperature offset value.

A steering wheel and a heat-conducting device are provided. The steering wheel includes a body, a handle, a heating device, an electronic control unit, a heat-conducting member and a base. The handle is adjacent to the body, and the heating device is disposed in the handle and receives a driving signal to generate heat accordingly. The electronic control unit is electrically connected to the heating device through a driving wire, and provides the driving signal to the heating device. The heat-conducting member forms a waste heat path, and the heat-conducting member and the heating device are located at different locations in the handle. The base is connected to the electronic control unit, collects waste heat from the electronic control unit, and is connected to the heat-conducting member through a heat dissipation wire to transfer the waste heat to the heat-conducting member.

Energy management techniques for heating or cooling a surface of a component of a vehicle comprise determining a heating lag time indicative of a lag time for a surface element of the vehicle component to heat to a first target temperature in response to a power on-off or power off-on modulation of a heat transfer component, determining a cooling lag time indicative of a lag time for the surface element to cool to a second target temperature in response to a power on-off or power off-on modulation of the heat transfer component, and controlling power-on and power-off times of the heat transfer component based on the determined heating and cooling lag times so as to not require a temperature sensor for feedback-based temperature control.

A steering device includes: a sensor drive unit configured to drive a sensor element provided in a steering to detect a gripped state of the steering; and a heater drive unit configured to drive a heater provided in the steering, in which the sensor drive unit executes driving of the sensor element periodically at an interval, the heater drive unit executes heater driving alternately with sensor driving by the sensor drive unit, and the interval of sensor driving is expanded in a state where the steering is gripped, compared with a state where the steering is not gripped.

A planar carrier for mounting on a rim of a steering wheel without wrinkles, the planar carrier including a portion of planar flexible foil of roughly rectangular shape having two longitudinal sides and two lateral sides, wherein the length B of the lateral sides is 0.96 to 1.00 times the perimeter of the rim, and wherein N cut-outs per unit length are provided on each of the longitudinal sides. The cut-outs of one side are located in a staggered fashion relative to opposing cut-out portions on the opposite side. The optimum shape and size of the cut-outs may be determined as described. The planar carrier may be implemented as a heat carrier, a heating device and/or a sensing device.

A thermoelectric conversion device includes: a thermoelectric module layer, in which a thermoelectric conversion chip is surrounded by a thermal insulation rubber containing a rubber component and a hollow filler forming a plurality of air gaps that are independent from one another; an insulation base layer and an insulation intermediate layer, which are thermal-conductive insulation sheets and sandwiches the thermoelectric module layer; a heat diffusion layer, which has a higher thermal conductance than those of the insulation base layer and the insulation intermediate layer and is stacked on the insulation intermediate layer; and a thermal radiation layer, which has thermal conductivity and is stacked on the heat diffusion layer. And at least one pair among the adjacent layers is bonded through chemical bonds.

A vehicle steering wheel is provided that includes a rim having a core structure, a plurality of heaters surrounding at least a portion of the core structure to define a plurality of heating zones, at least one sensor for sensing location of a user's hand on the steering wheel, and a controller controlling the plurality of heaters to activate one or more of the heaters based on the sensed location of the hand.

A vehicle microclimate system includes a microclimate device that is configured to be arranged within an interior space that provides a macroclimate environment to an occupant. The microclimate device is configured to provide a microclimate environment to the occupant. The microclimate device is configured to be in close proximity to a region of the occupant having an increased thermoreceptive response compared to other occupant regions exposed to the macroclimate environment. A controller is in communication with the microclimate device. The controller is configured to determine an occupant personal comfort and automatically command the microclimate device in response to the occupant personal comfort to achieve a desired occupant personal comfort.

A device for detecting steering wheel contact comprises at least a first electrode (12) which is provided in a steering wheel (10) and which forms, together with a human body acting as a second electrode and a dielectric situated therebetween, at least one sensor capacitor (26). The device also comprises an evaluation circuit (24) having a reference capacitor (30) of known capacitance which can be connected parallel to the sensor capacitor (26), a direct current voltage source (34) which can be connected to the reference capacitor (30), and a measuring device for measuring the voltage at the reference capacitor (30). A method for detecting steering wheel contact using such a device comprises the following successive steps: charging the reference capacitor (30) by applying a known reference voltage, or charging the reference capacitor (30) and subsequently measuring a first voltage at the reference capacitor (30); connecting, in parallel, the sensor capacitor (26) to the reference capacitor (30) so that a portion of the charge of the reference capacitor (30) is transmitted to the sensor capacitor (26); measuring a second voltage at the reference capacitor (26); end determining the capacitance of the sensor capacitor (26) from the known capacitance of the reference capacitor (30), the reference voltage or the first voltage and the second voltage.

The present invention relates to a fabric (30, 31) with at least one support (41, 41′), with at least two electrical function elements (70), and with at least one seam (40). It is provided that at least two of the electrical function elements (70) are in the form of strands and integrated in the seam (40).